He’s moving to warmer climes next week, but this Saturday evening, the party is on!

Whether he and Bobby McFerrin made it sweeter in the morning or he put a Nina Simone song in your heart each day, he and the team (including Sharan Louise Harper, Erroll Maitland, Janice K Bryant, Leslie George, Zack Fink, the Community Bulletin Board crew, and others) made “Wake Up Call” a staple and a benchmark.

As Program Director, he increased airtime for women, youth, and other underrepresented communities, and long before those currently bemoaning the loss of civil liberties, highlighted the thin line between the brick-and-mortar prisons and outside life.

Before his transition, Louis, who hosted “Perspectives” on WBAI until 2010, completed a 150-page poem entitled “Jazz in Jail”. Posthumously published, this epic work by the Janitor of History will be celebrated with Ahmed Abdullah and others in an afternoon of jazz and poetry. His life partner, Barbara Killens Rivera, invites you to:

The next LSB meeting will be held on Wed., Jan. 11. Current location: Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. (between 9th & 10th Sts.)

At 7pm, the 24 elected persons will meet as “delegates” to elect representatives

to the Pacifica National Board. Let’s hope that after a year of boycott and stalling, the old-new majority will manage to get this done in accordance with the bylaws. And later, about 7:30pm, the same group will be in formation as the LSB to conduct station business. There should be a presentation and discussion of the current budget.

The Theater for the New City location is subject to change as the lack of heat in the room we use makes it a less than hospitable and healthy space in which to spend 3 hours. Stay tuned for updates.

4. Important Wins

Mumia Will Get Treatment for Hepatitis C

A federal judge has ordered the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to treat Mumia Abu-Jamal's chronic hepatitis C with the latest anti-viral medications that have a 95% cure rate -- finding the . Over the past year and a half, Mumia has endured near-death hospitalization from diabetic shock and agonizing chronic sickness, including constant, intolerable all-body itching -- all due to the hepatitis C infection. In August 2015 he sued prison officials for denying the standard medication given to people with this infection. The judge found that the state “refuses, without medical justification, to provide treatment" after earlier finding that their hepatitis C "protocol" -- that only allows treatment to those at death's door -- was unconstitutional "cruel and unusual punishment."

The International Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal wrote, "BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO Bob Boyle and Bret Grote for their superb legal work, and a fantastic congratulations to our worldwide movement that hung in there all this time. Thank you to everyone who sent an e-mail, who signed a petition, who called or faxed the Department of Corrections or the Governor of Pennsylvania, who came out into the streets in Philadelphia and across this country, in France, Mexico, Germany and wherever else and thereby contributed to this victory. Thank you to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Minister Louis Farrakhan and the hundreds of well known individuals who twice wrote letters to Governor Wolf. And thank you to all those groups and individuals who have fought so hard for prisoners and non-prisoners infected with Hep C to get the treatment they have been denied that would cure them. This is a victory for all of us who have joined hands in this struggle for justice in the area of health care. "

The group warns, however, that vigilance is still needed: "The struggle for getting the medicine for Hepatitis C is not over. The Department of Corrections will surely appeal the judge's decision."

• New York City Homeless Persons Compensated for NYPD Property Destruction

A decision by the NYC Comptroller saw 3 homeless individuals - all members of the activist group Picture the Homeless (PTH) - win judgment against NYC and its Police Department for destruction of their belongings, including life-sustaining medication and family photos. But PTH is continuing the struggle around the broader policy issue - demanding that Mayor De Blasio immediately end his policy of widespread NYPD abuse and brutality against the homeless.

Three freedom fighters, longtime political prisoners, and now elders facing serious health problems, are waging intense campaigns for clemency from President Obama -- and now only 16 days are left. You can join the tens of thousands who have signed petitions seeking to have inordinate sentences (often endured under the harshest conditions) commuted to "time served" for:

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation website nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) of the website only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff.or other listener members.